My Lense TrilogyI did not buy and kit lenses with my camera. Instead I bought the body and a separate 28mm 1:1.8 Canon lens. I was extremely happy with how bright it was and that I never had to use a flash even in low light conditions. I was told by someone that for a beginner it is better to use prime lens and move back and forth to bring the subject closer and further way in the frame rather than a zoom lens when you get lazy and let the camera do the work. I took the advice to heart and and looking back I can see how right this person was. I am so used to using a prime lens that I even when I used my compact camera I forget to use the zoom function and instead move backward and forward to compose the picture.

A year later I bought the wide angle 20mm 1:2.8 prime lens as I was planning a trip the Grand Canyon and felt I would need a lens capable of capturing the wide vistas. Having gotten used to a 1:1.8 it was difficult to use a 1:2.8 since it is not as bright. I ended up using the 20mm on a tripod indoor, hand held on a bright day indoor or hand held outdoors. I also bought a camera bag to hold my camera and two lenses because I didn’t think I would need another lens. It is a great little Lowepro Fastpack 100 backpack which fit all my accessories perfectly.

Again a year later with my interest in food photography peeking I researched the internet to see what is recommended as a good lens for photographing food. All websites said that there is no one good lens for food photography, but a zoom macro is used often to get very blurry backgrounds with sharp foreground focus. I felt that that was the lens to add to my growing collection and hence I bought the 100mm prime.

I can’t possibly thing of any lense that I might want to add.. well, maybe a lensbaby someday! The backpack I had bought would no longer fit my third lens. I recently had to buy a bigger Lowepro Slingbag 200AW.

Thanks so much, Sarah! XSi is great.. I drooled over it when it came out and read all the reviews. I like that it has live view capability. I would say that the 28mm 1:1.8 was the best investment I ever made and because it is a prime lens it taught me really good habits, i.e. not relying on the zoom and adjusting my own position to frame a shot. It is really bright so you can easily take hand held pictures indoors without a flash and still not have camera shake. I used nothing but that lens for a year and constantly thanked the professional photographer who recommended it (even though at the time I thought it was a little expensive). Go for it!

Thank you for all of the great info! My biggest challenge seems to be lighting. I don’t know if I need to buy a lighting kit, or if there’s a problem with my camera (Nikon D5000). Any suggestions on lighting equipment.

kp, I am afraid I can’t help you with that yet. I have almost successfully avoided shooting without the sun. I am trying to learn the rules of natural light before I break them with unnatural light. Keep reading.. I’m sure a time will come when I can no longer avoid using strobes!